


Hot and Cold

by SandHand



Series: Clint and Wade Do Things [5]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, Deadpool - All Media Types, Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Winter Soldier (Comics)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Criminal Masterminds, Deadpool being Deadpool, Hawkeye vs Deadpool (2014), Mercenaries, Mystery, Nuclear Weapons, Original Character(s), Spy Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Thriller, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24431668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandHand/pseuds/SandHand
Summary: Clint Barton and Wade Wilson are pulled into another high stakes mission involving nuclear weapons, super assassins, scared scientists, and a mysterious mastermind who could take SHIELD down from the inside and stop Captain America once and for all by revealing one big secret
Series: Clint and Wade Do Things [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518458
Kudos: 1





	1. A Straight Shot

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been gone for a while, but I have been writing. Mostly other things but I do still want to do Clint and Wade stories, they're just fun.
> 
> A lot like the Ultron story I did a little while ago, this is a weird sort of re-write of Captain America: The Winter Solider. Only in terms of characters and the more serious spy/thriller tone, everything else like events and settings will be very different. It's an idea I've had for a while in a few forms and I'm hoping I can pull off the idea of a mystery as well as the whole "Cap meets the Winter Soldier" story. I'm also going to have to fudge with things like included characters as to not reveal things but I hope it's not a problem. All of that said, I hope you enjoy.

The echo of the metal door being kicked open cascaded through the old factory, probably the only sound for miles. Two figures moved in the shadows of rusty machinery: with one taking the lead holding a large circular shield in their hand. The second figure followed closely behind stopping to look around every so often, nervously. They both moved slowly across the open floor of the factory, trying their best to make little noise. They had almost made it to the other side of the building when the lead figure held up a fist signaling for the other person to stop. Panicked, the figure froze; slowly the lead looked around, eyes drifting around the floor and up at the windows. Most of them were intact but just as many were cracked or broken entirely. Once he was satisfied with the sweep of the room he began to move again, the other figure following. At the other end of the room both men squished themselves against the wall and let out a few breaths “Are we almost there” asked the second figure, his voice shaky.

“Almost, our ride should be just outside this door.” The other figure spoke calmly and slowly, with confidence he turned to directly address the other man “We’re going to have to run for it, one straight shot.”

“Are you sure we can make it?” The man was visibly shaking now, he looked as if he might breakdown.

“Just keep moving and you’ll be fine, I’ve got you covered.” He watched the man take a few breaths to calm himself down. Slowly he began to nod and slowly he readied himself. Slowly they fell back into the same stance and prepared to leave the building. The door creaked open slowly and the first man stepped out slowly, outside he saw an open field of grass growing sporadically around more old equipment. Beyond the field he saw a shimmer and a smile crept across his face “Our ride’s here doctor.” He pointed out towards the shimmer “Like I said, straight shot.”

“Alright Captain.” The doctor gave a small pat on the other man’s back and they both began moving. Outside things seemed still, it must have been three in the morning by now. With every step they picked up speed, at one point the first figure slowed down and allowed the doctor to take the lead. Seconds from the end of the field there was a short burst of static from the earpiece in the captain’s helmet; instinctively he turned and raised the shield. He noticed a slight twinkle from another building and then there was a large clang against the shield that made him stumble backwards, the sound of the gunshot came a few seconds after “Captain?!” He turned to see the doctor had stopped, looking back at him.  
“Don’t stop, go!” Before the doctor could register, nod in response or start moving again, he flew backwards and fell to the ground; again, the sound of the gunshot came a few seconds after. The man winced and ran for the closest cover he could find, a small piece of metal. Back to the rusty metal he pressed his ear against his earpiece “The doctor is down; shooter is on a roof south of me!”

“I’m already on my way over Steve.” He was surprised to hear Natasha, and she did sound like she was hoofing it “Looks like one of the smokestacks.”

“Yeah” Steve took a peek over his cover and followed the old smokestack down to its base, where a regular brick building stood “I think I see it, be there soon.”

“No, stay put, you leave that spot, you’ll get your head taken off.”

“Come on Romanoff, what do you think the shield is for?” She didn’t answer, either because she was laughing or too busy trying to sprint to the sniper’s location “I’ll do my best to distract him while you get there.” With that he jumped over the metal cover and ran back through the factory building. As he ran the flash of the rifle twinkled again and again as the sniper took shots. Steve tried his best to run in and out of the shadows, he kept his shield high and tried to track the shots. In no time at all he had crashed through the other door and was looking for a way up the smokestack building; his best option was an old train box car. Clipping the shield to his back Steve went into top speed and leapt onto the roof of the box car and then onto the wall of the building. The loose brick gave him enough to hold onto, but he tried to move quickly before they could give way and send him falling. The fire of the rifle had stopped but Steve tried to keep moving as he listened for anything; shuffling footsteps, the click of a weapon, anything that would tell him what the shooter was doing up there.

“Rogers I’m in the building, heading up some stairs now.”

“ I think I got you beat” he grumbled to himself before leaping again and grabbing the edge of the roof. He climbed up and immediately drew the shield again, ready to throw it. His eyes drifted from left to right but there was nothing up here. At the corner of the roof Steve spotted the rifle and box of ammunition, but no shooter. Steve swapped the shield to his other hand and walked over to the weapon, slowly. He heard the echo of boots on old metal stairs and touched his ear “Nat I’m on the roof, don’t shoot” he removed his hand as the door to the roof swung open and Natasha ran out, gun drawn. Steve shrugged a little “Looks like he’s gone.” 

“Shit.” She stowed the pistol and walked over to the rifle “At least he left us a gift.”

“Be careful, could be booby trapped.”

“This guy’s probably an assassin Rogers.” as she spoke, she twisted a bracelet on one hand and watched as a blue light began to come from the palm of her glove “He’s a killer not Kevin McCallister.” Nat ran the light over the gun once before twisting the bracelet and changing the color of the light. As she swept the gun there was a small click and beeping began “Oh shit.” Nat turned to signal Steve, who was already running towards her. She followed his lead and took a small hop over the edge and off the roof, reaching to her other hand which sported a bulkier bracelet. She felt Steve grab her and clicked the gauntlet, firing out a grappling hook into the side of the building. Steve raised his shield just as the small bit of building where the rifle sat exploded. The corner of the building gave, including the area where the hook had embedded itself. Feeling the lack of lurch from the rope Steve twirled again, letting the shield cover them, and braced for impact. When they both hit the ground there was a loud thud as the shield took most of the fall. Rubble fell around both heroes as they rose to their feet slowly “Guess I spoke to soon” Nat tried to joke.

“Who’s Kevin McCallister?” There was a moment of silence as Natasha gave Steve a disappointed look, then a floodlight switched on blinding them both, Cap grimaced and tapped his earpiece “Ramirez?!” The floodlight switched off immediately.

“Sorry about that Cap, it’s awful dark out here.” When the light switched off the quinjet hovering in front them was clearly visible. Slowly it turned and landed so Natasha and Rogers could hop on. Inside another agent was working over the body of the doctor. Steve ran over and touched the agent’s soldier. She turned and frowned, shaking her head.

“Take us back home Ramirez.” Steve’s tone was flat, and he moved away from the doctor’s body before his curiosity caused him to look it over anymore. Nat watched him move to the front of the plane, fists clenched.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Natasha turned to see the agent unfurling a body bag. 

“You’re telling me.” Natasha went to help her “If you’ve got suggestions Marni, I’m all ears.”

“We could call some of the other Avengers.”

“I don’t think the rest of my friends are made for a mission like this.” Nat gave a smug smirk as she tried to imagine Hulk sneaking around this place, or Tony _not_ making a scene.

“What about Agent Barton?” This surprised her a little.

“Usually I’m the one that reminds people that Clint exists.”

“Do you think he could help” the two had slowly lifted the doctor into the bag and began zip him up. As she asked her question Marni stopped and locked eyes with Natasha “Do you think he could do ­ _this_?”

“Depends” she shrugged, zipping the bag up and moving it back towards the wall of the plane.

“Depends on what?”

“How much we tell him, how much we expect him to do” Nat wiped her hands against her thighs and gave a smiling shrug to the agent “and how he’s feeling.”


	2. The Quiet Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint Barton is bored out of his mind with nothing to do; lucky for him Wade Wilson wants to take him shopping

New York was mostly quiet today, as much as it could be at least. Clint had been relaxing in his apartment since early morning, getting laundry done, cleaning, fidgeting with arrows, trying to fight off boredom; then like an answer to a prayer Clint’s doorbell began to ring. One look through the peephole and he wished he could take it all back, it was Wade; and he was dressed for a job. Clint let a grumble escape his lips as he slid to the floor, back to the door “I could have just enjoyed the quiet, I did this to myself.”

“Barton, I can hear you whining in there” Wade began to knock on the very thin door “Open up!”

“Go away Wade, I’m relaxing.”

“Bullshit, I just said I can hear you whining; you’re bored!” With another grumble Clint got off the floor and let Wilson in. He gave a little curtsy and let himself in “You got anything to drink?”

“Sure, we got bottled water.”

“Gross, I’ll take tap.”

“You drink tap water?”

“Clint my body self-heals, it’d stupid of me not to drink the most available water.”

“Tap’s broken anyway” Clint grumbled as he walked to the fridge and grabbed two bottles.

“How do you live like this?” Wade gave an exaggerated shudder as folded his mask up and began to sip the water

“What cause you live like a king?”

“I live like someone with self-respect, what do you think I spend money on?”

“Beats me.” Clint looked Wade up and down, taking note of all the expensive equipment on his person; all over a very pricey looking red and black suit.

“Fresh produce, comfy furniture, and lots of streaming platforms.”

“Sounds nice, I prefer take out.”

“That does not surprise me in the slightest” Wade took another few gulps of water and took a seat at Clint’s kitchen island.

“Hey Wade, and I totally mean to be mean, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m bored too” Wade said very matter-of-factly “I just figured we could do something together.”

“Like be bored _together_?”

“Yeah man you got it.”

“Well if you have ideas, I’m all ears.” Clint turned his bottle of water in his hand, still unopened. Usually it was Wade who came by with something to do but things had been, well, quiet. Bad guys had decided to stay in their perspective lairs and jail cells, anyone doing mob crime were laying low at the moment; things were really _really_ quiet. Clint had considered calling up the Avengers to see what they were up to but a quick text with Nat had turned up the same result, nothing to do. 

“Wanna go shopping” Wade asked. Clint turned to see him crinkling the empty bottle with intense focus.

“Why?”

“My fridge could use some restocking, and I’m pretty sure yours could too.”

“Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”

“Come on I’m sure we could find a working tap if we’re lucky.” Clint laughed a little to himself as Wade got up and started to leave.

“You sure you don’t want to change or something?”

“Nah we’ll go to my usual spot, they love me.” Barton rolled his eyes and followed Wade out of the front door. As they went down the stairs Clint checked his pockets and realized he hadn’t grabbed his car keys or wallet. He turned to run back up, but Wade grabbed his shirt “Hey come on, whatever we get is on me.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah, you’ll pay me back.” Clint’s shoulders slumped a little. By ‘pay him back’ Clint was sure Wade meant he’d ask for him to tag along on some dangerous adventure.

At the bottom of the apartment building Clint winced at the sunlight, Wade’s tiny snicker made him quickly adjust himself ‘Shut up.” His eyes darted up and down the road but there was no sign of a vehicle that screamed ­ _Deadpool_ “So which one is yours?”

“Oh, I walked here.”

“you live within walking distance of me?”

“No, I just like to walk, come on we’re not going far.” With a small shrug Clint followed.

“I didn’t take you for the walking type.”

“Yeah I’m starting to realize you don’t know a lot about me.”

“I’m honestly scared to learn what you’re like when you’re _not_ shooting and stabbing people.”

“Oh, come on, I’m just like anyone else” Wade waved one finger in the ear “and I also slash people, very important to remember all three.” Clint laughed and walked beside Wade. As they strolled, he found himself staring out at everyone around. Kids were riding bikes; people were buying hot dogs; it reminded him of days with the circus where he’d get to walk the grounds and enjoy the rides and games with other visitors. Without realizing it Wade had taken him by the shoulders and had begun to turn him away from the sidewalk into what looked like a parking lot “This is us.”

“Oh shit.” Clint looked out at a small sea of people selling fruits and vegetables. There were a few water dog carts and candy peddlers, even a food truck or two.

“Yeah, I actually fell on this place during a job.”

“Was a target shopping here?” Clint nudged Wade a little as he joked.

“No, I mean I literally _fell_ on it.” Wade pointed over to where a red pick up was parked “Fell out of a helicopter on top of some roses a lady was sellin.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Not the worst thing ever, plus she was really gouging on them, so you know, screw her.”

“So, you buy all your stuff here.”

“Mostly fruit and veg, once in a while they have people selling special stuff like furniture or art.” As Wade spoke Clint began to wander away. Everything looked good, and affordable too.

“So, what do you recommend Wilson?”

“Oh, defiantly the tomatoes, old Stan has the best ones on the Manhattan Island.”

“ _That_ is the sound of someone who hasn’t met Jessie in Queens.” Clint and Wade both turned in surprise to see Natasha beaming at them, well, her version of beaming.

“Nat, what’s up?” She lifted two paper bags and gave him a look as if he’d just asked her a stupid question.

“Thought I’d get some shopping done, and I got a job.”

“There it is.” Clint began to roll his eyes, but Wade slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“Weren’t you just crying in your apartment bored out of your bird brain?”

“Bird brain?”

“Let’s at least see what the job is before we say no.”

“We?” Nat beamed and handed her bags over to Clint before offering an arm to Wade.

“I’m glad somebody here gets me.” Wade returned the gesture and the two went arm and arm towards an ice cream truck.

“Anything for a friend, especially one who’s gonna hook me up with this Jessie person and her terrific tomatoes.”

“Wait, we?!” Clint shouted, still holding Natasha’s groceries.

Nat carted both Wade and Clint across the market and into a nice new black truck, Clint noticed a temporary paper license plate on the back, _very_ new. The drive was quick and quiet; Clint sat in the back with the groceries while Nat and Wade chattered in the front. At some point Barton nodded off and woke up to Wade poking him in the head “You dead?”

“Yep” Clint grumbled, swatting the hand away “We here?”

“Yeah, not sure where here is though.” Wade moved and let Clint hop out of the truck. It was quiet and the sounds of the city were nonexistent. They were on a gravel road that crunched under Clint’s feet the surroundings were flat and green with trees all around “Looks like upstate.”

“Good guess.” Clint turned to see Natasha and Steve walking towards him. He couldn’t help but smile and walk up to the solider for a hug.

“Long time no see gramps, you doing good, drinking your prune juice.”

“I thought kale was the thing now.” They both laughed a little “It’s good to see you too Barton.”

“What’s up, I haven’t been able to reach anyone for weeks.”

“We’ve been a little busy.” Clint looked at his friend bite his lip slightly and shift on his heels.

“What do you mean by that?”

“We’ll explain on the way.” With that Steve turned and started heading back towards the center of the field, but as he walked, just in front of him, the sky begin to shimmer until a full Quinjet had appeared as if out of nowhere.

“Oh, I always love when that happens.” Clint nudged past Hawkeye and ran for the ship. Natasha passed by giving a little hip bump.

“Come on, we got somewhere to be,” she picked up pace and caught up to the others “And don’t forget my groceries!” Clint tried to fight down another smirk, looking at the ground. As much as he didn’t want to admit it this had come at a great time. The boredom had been getting to him, he figured Wade showing up would be enough, but an actual job would be even better. He grabbed the bags from the truck and took his time heading for the Quinjet. Inside he was surprised to see two other SHIELD agents, one girl and one guy “Uh, hey.”

“Oh wow” the girl said, nearly dropping her end of a box they were both hauling. The man panicked, eyes bulging ‘You’re Clint Barton, I’m a, I mean-”

“She’s a big fan.” The other agent nudged his end forward causing her to stutter.

“Yeah, you were all we talked about at the academy.”

“People talk about _me_ at the SHIELD academy?”

“Well the sharpshooters do; they still have your dartboard hung up in the lounge.” Clint gave a nod and continued with the groceries.

“Well that’s good to know. Thanks.”

“It’s not a problem Mr. Barton.”

“Just Clint’s fine” he said with a wince, the idea of being called Mister was a bit much for him.

“Right; oh, I’m Marni by the way, and my rude friend is Ramirz.” The man gave a small nod.

“Can we please get this stuff moved; you’ll have the whole plane ride to ogle at him.” Red faced Marni quickly started moving again. Clint shrugged a little and put the groceries down in a corner of the plane. 

“Hey, where are we going anyway?”

“Saxony” Ramirz hollered back.

“Where’s that?”

“Germany” Marni responded. Clint nodded and started to walk towards the front of the jet.

“What the hell is in Germany” he whispered to himself.

In the cockpit of the Quinjet Natasha was adjusting a pair of headphones on her head while Wade sat opposite of her, adjusting his seat. “You feeling at home?”

“Not yet” Wade grumbled “All the nerds and money in the world, you’d think they’d install presets for this shit.” With another adjustment he let out a sigh and relaxed into the chair.

“Better?”

“It’s as good as it’s gonna get.”

“Too bad it’s not your seat.” Clint said kicking him softly. Wade fussed a bit before getting up.

“One of these day’s Barton I’m just gonna hijack one of these.” Clint smiled and nodded before pushing past his friend.

“When was the last time you flew one of these” Nat asked as she checked everything at her station.  
“Eh, it doesn’t matter much, it’s like riding a bike right?”

“Yeah, a multi-ton weaponized bike.”

“Careful, you might give Stark ideas.” Clint hovered his hands over all the controls before letting muscle memory kick in. Natasha handed him a pair of headphones which he accepted, still focused on the controls. The ship rumbled a bit as the ramp raised and the engines begun to warm up.

“We heading out?” Steve had come in quietly, looking around at all the bells and whistles that still made his head spin a bit.

“Yes sir” Clint flipped one more switch before throwing an arm over the chair and turning towards Rogers “Mind telling me what’s in Saxony, Germany?” Steve smiled and considered the question before shaking his head.

“I’d rather wait and tell you and Wade at the same time.” Clint gave him a knowing look; he was just trying to annoy the archer.

“This isn’t about the prune thing is it?”

“Of course not, only _old men_ would be so fickle.” Steve gave the back of the chair a smack before leaving the cockpit. Clint caught Natasha laughing to herself and poked her in the side.

“You know he hates it when you call him old.”

“Is that supposed to stop me from doing it?” Nat shook her head and went back to adjusting her instruments. Clint did the same and before long the Quinjet’s engines were all warmed up and they were jetting towards Germany.


	3. A Different Kind of Shield

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Wade get to Germany where they meet a SHIELD director and learn what was so important that they had to miss out on all that fresh produce

Natasha and Clint flew through the night, it was almost a 10-hour flight, but they made do catching up and playing small road trip games back and forth. Clint tried and failed to poke at her a few times in an attempt to get any more info about the mission. For the most part the others stayed out of the cockpit, but to be fair their hands were full with Wade. At first he tried his best to learn everything he could about the agents; Marni was pretty forth coming about her childhood in Vancouver and all her time in archery camp, meanwhile the only thing Ramirz offered up was that he ‘used to smoke for a bit’. Steve sat back and watched Wilson; it had been a few weeks since he’d seen everyone in such good spirits; the job had been nothing but setbacks and it had begun to get to him and the others so watching Marni laugh and Ramirz beat Wilson in arm wrestling match after arm wrestling match did him some good; maybe even more than it was doing them “Attention girls and boys, we’ve arrived.” Natasha’s voice over the speakers made everyone snap to attention. Steve placed his shield back on his back while the agents adjusted all the equipment attached to their belts. Wade did his best to look busy too, miming after everyone. In reality he didn’t have much on him other than the usual pistols, hell he didn’t even have both of his swords, he had only elected to grab one on his way to Clint’s apartment. Clint hadn't received anything during the ride either but as soon as he saw where they were arriving, he figured there’d be time to put together a kit.

The clouds broke revealing a large isolated facility. Comprised of one building the thing was large and circular with a body of water surrounding it. Clint was amazed “I didn’t know SHIELD has facilities in Germany.”

“It’s just the one facility, and it’s new.” Natasha worked as she spoke, flipping switches and adjusting her flight stick “Normally the place doesn’t see much action but now” her voice trailed off causing Clint to look over at her. She looked back and gave a shrug “You’ll see.”

“Right.” With that the Quinjet landed on the roof of the building with a clunk. Clint quickly took his headphones off and hopped out of the chair. As he walked out of the cockpit of the plane he stretched and shook his hands, it had been a _long_ flight.

“You get a good look at where we are?” Wade walked up to him, now imitating Barton’s stretches.

“Some SHIELD base” he was interrupted by another shudder than moved through the ship “a very _new_ base.”

“It’s called the auge” Marni strolled up gingerly “German for eye.”

“Catchy” Clint mumbled before moving to the back of plane where the ramp had begun to lower. Outside a few agents clad in black and blue armor were standing, rifles at their sides. Clint looked up and down the line of seven or so soldiers “That’s a different welcome then I was expecting.”

“Oh, lemme see.” Clint felt Wade run into his back at full speed, nearly knocking him down. Miraculously, the two didn’t fall but Clint was left in an awkward position, half bowing in front of the soldiers “Wow, nice guns.” Clint pushed Wilson off and fixed his shirt.

“I’m sure they appreciate the enthusiasm.”

“Sorry, 10-hour flight, I’m a little hyper.” Clint took a few steps away from Wade and made his way down the ramp. He was surprised by the sunlight that hit his eyes. Looking up he noticed a large opening that revealed a cloudy sky and a bright shining sun, it looked as if the landing pad had lowered into the building itself.

“Impressive right?” Clint turned to see a well-dressed woman walking towards him, she wore a large smile on her face and had on a black suit complete with pants, matching heels and a black shirt under the suit jacket. The only other color on her were the red glasses and lipstick she sported “My name is Veronica, I’m the director here at the auge, it’s nice to meet you Agent Barton.” She outstretched a hand to shake.

“Not an agent anymore” he said, accepting the hand “but thanks.”

“Mr. Wilson!” Clint was surprised by the way her attention shifted so suddenly to over his shoulder. Clint turned to see Wade lurching his arm away from one of the soldiers “If you’ll come with me, we’ll make sure you have your pick of anything in our armory.”

“I like you” he said racing over to offer a handshake. The rest of the team left the Quinjet slowly and followed Veronica. As they walked Clint looked around at the base. A lot of it resembled the Helicarriers; the colors and architecture were familiar. The only thing that was different was the structure of the base itself. It seemed like the platform that made up the center of the Auge was just a landing pad while the outer ring functioned as the base. At the end of a curved hall Veronica guided everyone into a room off to the side. It was dark, with a low blue light illuminating the simple details of the room, plain walls and a large desk like object in the very center of the room. Clint chucked a little “Finally, a war room.”

“This the highlight of the tour for you” Nat asked jokingly.

“I’m just glad we’re finally gonna get to learn why you had to end our date at the market.”

“Awwww, we were on a date?” Clint laughed and pushed Wade further away from him as everyone gathered around the table. As they finished surrounding it the table it began to light up covering the surface with blue holograms of files. Veronica swiped at the images until she reached one, tapping on it. The file expanded and few images came up, each depicting a scientist in a lab coat, the chest sporting a small SHIELD logo.

“These are Doctors; Adrien, Rosenbar, Kath, and Merin. Shield scientists who were employed here recently.” Veronica tapped a small button on the table causing three of the photos to disappear “Rosenbar is the only one that’s still alive.”

“How’d the others die” Clint asked, arms folded across his chest.

“Adrien was killed in an explosion at his private lab and Merin was killed in a car crash.”

“Kath died last night, while we were trying to get him to safety.” Clint shifted his eyes over to Steve as he spoke. The Captain looked tired, beaten down.

“So, what are we thinking, assassin?”

“We already know everything we need to” Natasha said, taking her own turn operating the holograms on the table. New images popped up; some looked like newspaper clippings in different languages while some were very blurry images of a figure clad in black “Each scientist was killed in a different way, but the mix tactics point towards _one_ suspect.”

“Blurry images, old newspapers; Bigfoot, right?” Wade looked around to see if anyone reacted, but all eyes were still glued to the display in front of them. Wade cleared his throat a bit and tried something else, something more serious “I know a couple assassins, I could see if I know the guy; or if a guy knows the guy.”

“His name is the Winter Soldier, he’s an old Russian bogey man.” Natasha shifted her weight onto her other leg and took a shaky breath. Clint’s eye drifted over to her. She looked a little pale, even in the low blue light of the room. Her eyes shot up from the floor back at him, she was teary eyed.

“Bogey man isn’t real though, this guy is.” Natasha nodded silently at Clint.

“So, we find him before he gets to the last poindexter, easy.”

“Not easy” Steve said causing Wade’s shoulders to droop again “The Soldier’s a ghost, tracking him would be a waste of time.”

“So, we draw him out of wherever he’s hiding and get him then.” Clint looked around and watched Natasha shift again, along with Steve and Veronica “But you already tried that.”

“Twice, Merin was being transported when the crash happened, and Kath…” Veronica trailed off causing Steve to finish for her.

“Kath was our attempt to isolate the assassin more, but his tactics changed again, and we weren’t able to plan properly.”

“You said tactics matched things he’d done before though; doesn’t that mean you could put together a play book or something?” Clint voice broke a little at the end as he looked around at everyone. The idea that his friends had used those guys as bait was a little hard to stomach.

“Just because we know what he’s done doesn’t mean that we know what he’ll do” Nat said “We tried to imitate one of his kills with Merin; but instead of sniping the target through the driver, he turned the car into a pancake with a truck.” Clint gave a small sigh. Part of him was upset for all the excitement he had felt during the plane ride. The idea of being on another job had eclipsed any other thought, of agents who were in harms way, of _civilians_ who could have gotten hurt; but there was another feeling to, anger.  
“You should have called us in earlier.” He spoke in tone.

“We thought we could handle it, and we weren’t sure if you’d play ball.”

“Then you should have tried to bring in someone else, anyone else.”

“This cant be tackled by just anyone else.” Clint sighed again and tapped the table.

“Well I’m here now, so hopefully we can get this done and nobody else has to get _pancaked._ ” With that he left the table. Wade tried to run after him, but the man was already past the doorway. Wade had to shift slightly to get past Marni and Ramirz who had been waiting outside. Back inside the room Veronica shut down the table and shook her head, chuckling.

“I guess we should take his advice and call someone else.”

“No, he’s still gonna work with us.” Veronica looked up at Natasha with a little disbelief.

“After that you think he wants to work with us?”

“After Wade calms him down and I talk to him, yeah.” Natasha took her leave next, leaving Steve and Veronica alone. She wasn’t ready to leave the room yet.

“You having seconds thoughts about this?”

“No” Veronica shook her head as she spoke “At least I hope not, we don’t have a lot of options.”

“Nat’s right, he wont leave; but if he finds out you didn’t tell him everything, he’s gonna be mad again.”

“In my defense he just stormed out.”

“So, you plan on telling him the rest?” Veronica smiled and laughed a little, but she couldn’t bring herself to look up at Rogers.

“It’s a little more complicated than just telling him Steve.”

“No, it’s not” he said, as he started to leave “but you should do what you think is best.”


End file.
